Tim's and Steve's favorite British expression. Definition from Wikipedia as follows...
Adjective form from "ready for the knacker's yard" or "fit to be knackered", meaning "worn-out livestock, fit to be slaughtered and rendered".
That's how I felt this morning! Luckily Aaron was around to give me some company and we had a nice early morning run on the trails (8 miles at 7:45 pace). I'm hoping another little shakeout run tomorrow morning will have my legs back in some sort of shape for tomorrow evening's planned workout- especially as it is supposed to be 95 degrees and I'll be doing the bulk of it solo!
Interestingly my legs felt pretty decent for Sunday's 16.5 miler which I clicked off solo at 4.30 am at around a 6:50 pace. I'm looking forward to this next 'marathon specific' phase of my training. The mileage is going to rise and the length of the workouts increase. Bring it on!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Week in review
56 miles(goal 50), 6 runs including 16 mile 'long', a 2m/1m/4*400 workout, a 5k race and one day completely off
70-75 miles, a 10*800 workout, an 8k xc race and an 18 mile long run on the agenda next week.
70-75 miles, a 10*800 workout, an 8k xc race and an 18 mile long run on the agenda next week.
Greekfest recap
So in my preview to this race last week I mentioned that I had had two good and two bad performances here previously. I guess this time you could say I split the difference. Actually as soon as I finished the race I was slightly disappointed, by the end of the day I was content and now I'm feeling pretty satisfied with the performance.
I put myself in position to run a fast time and through two miles was still on schedule but I was already starting to slip at that point and the third mile was a struggle. Sub 16 was still on the cards at the 3 mile mark but somehow I managed to take 40 seconds to run the last 0.12 (36 at my last race). I definitely missed having someone to run with in this race. I gapped Aaron earlier than I expected I would and the guy who beat me into third came passed me as if I wasn't there during the second mile and I couldn't latch on to him so I spent most of the race on my own. Where was Jay when I needed him? Oh, that's right, the Bahamas!
On a side note there were a slew of excellent performances on view at the race. A bunch of guys improved their 5k PRs into the mid 16s, first time sub 18 efforts were aplenty and everyone generally seemd to have a good race. Another great event put on by Tim and his team. Next up in the Grand Prix is the Brixx 10k at the end of September. With that race coming just a week after what is likely to be a very strenuous effort at the Blue Ridge Relay and with second place in the Grand Prix pretty much sewn up now, my approach for this race has yet to be determined! Next up is a xc meet at the weekend when I go and visit the Budics in Cleveland!
I put myself in position to run a fast time and through two miles was still on schedule but I was already starting to slip at that point and the third mile was a struggle. Sub 16 was still on the cards at the 3 mile mark but somehow I managed to take 40 seconds to run the last 0.12 (36 at my last race). I definitely missed having someone to run with in this race. I gapped Aaron earlier than I expected I would and the guy who beat me into third came passed me as if I wasn't there during the second mile and I couldn't latch on to him so I spent most of the race on my own. Where was Jay when I needed him? Oh, that's right, the Bahamas!
On a side note there were a slew of excellent performances on view at the race. A bunch of guys improved their 5k PRs into the mid 16s, first time sub 18 efforts were aplenty and everyone generally seemd to have a good race. Another great event put on by Tim and his team. Next up in the Grand Prix is the Brixx 10k at the end of September. With that race coming just a week after what is likely to be a very strenuous effort at the Blue Ridge Relay and with second place in the Grand Prix pretty much sewn up now, my approach for this race has yet to be determined! Next up is a xc meet at the weekend when I go and visit the Budics in Cleveland!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Primed
I can honestly say I haven’t felt this decent going into a race for a long time. Weather is fairly decent, competition should be hot and to cap it off I picked up some new Fasttwitch flats from the store yesterday that I will be lacing up on Saturday. Of course it could all blow up in my face tomorrow but runners are often accused of sandbagging and playing down their fitness so I guess I’m bucking the trend here!
The week thus far has been day off Monday, decent enough, hard workout on Tuesday (1*2 mile,2*1 mile, 4*400m), 7 easy solo on the trails Wednesday, 8 plus strides yesterday with a big group from the Dowd including a couple of loops of the course and 4 plus barefoot drills, strides and stretching at CCS this morning. Wish I could fit more of what I did this am into my weekly routine as my legs felt great after it!
Anyways, hopefully I’ll get after it tomorrow and let’s see how it goes. Good luck all!!
The week thus far has been day off Monday, decent enough, hard workout on Tuesday (1*2 mile,2*1 mile, 4*400m), 7 easy solo on the trails Wednesday, 8 plus strides yesterday with a big group from the Dowd including a couple of loops of the course and 4 plus barefoot drills, strides and stretching at CCS this morning. Wish I could fit more of what I did this am into my weekly routine as my legs felt great after it!
Anyways, hopefully I’ll get after it tomorrow and let’s see how it goes. Good luck all!!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Greekfest Musings
The Greekfest 5k is probably the most popular and renowned 5k race held in Charlotte. The main reason for this is its reputation for being one of the fastest courses you can find locally. As any Charlotte runner will attest, almost all the local races have to negotiate a significant hill at some stage during the race. Not so Greekfest. Apart from one gradual rise as you turn on to Kingston from Park just after the mile mark, there are no hills of note. However it must be underlined that by no means is the course flat. You start off charging down East which is very slightly downhill and you end up running back up this direction for the finishing few hundred meters. Sections during the second and third miles run parallel to East and have its same grade. Still, all in all, Greekfest is definitely a course you can target a good time on. And everyone always does. You hear people back in April saying they are aiming to PR at this race.
However, for all the PRs and fast times that are set here, I would bet that there are an equal amount of disappointing results. As is often the way with something that is ‘over-hyped’, people often come away from Greekfest disappointed, “How can I not have run faster on this course?!”. Three main reasons for this I feel. First, people seem to assume all they need to do to run fast here is turn up. Wrong, this race needs just as much attention and focus as any other race, particularly during the second mile where there is a slight downhill section down Worthington that people tend to just coast down and get themselves prepared for the finishing stretch. Second, the course isn’t as flat as it is made out to be and the finish is on a very gradual uphill that can sap your time if you are not focused and fit enough. Third, the weather is often a factor, the late August humidity neutralizing the positive scenario of a fast course layout.
Speaking from personal experience, I have done this race 4 times and can say I have raced well twice and ‘badly’ twice. Greekfest will always have a soft spot in my heart as it was actually the first ever race I ran on Charlotte and American soil in 2005. We had signed the lease on our new apartment the previous Saturday and I looked immediately to get in a race to get a feel for the running community here. After a PR laden last few months in England, I had spent the previous month on ‘down’ time and was not in very good race shape. That combined with the ridiculous heat that I wasn’t used to (!) led to an 11th place finish in 16:33.
Next year was a different matter. My parents were in town, Sophie was 5 days old and I was in a training cycle for my first marathon. I ran well in 15:55 for third place and some cash if I remember rightly.
2007 was disappointing again. I had been running fast that summer and had spent a month in Australia with work where I was able to carry on my good form and training. However, Greekfest proved to be a race too far. I was burnt out, came home 7th in a disappointing 16:21 and immediately took some down time for a few weeks. Looking at the results for this race, a couple of notable performances. Coach Budic took second in 15:33, ten seconds ahead of local road legend Marchinko and 8th overall female was a certain young lady by the name of Alana Hadley, ten years old at the time, running 19:37!!
Back to the good the year after, when, deep into my training for the 2008 Richmond Marathon and having done no specific 5k training, my strength saw me home to a 2nd place in 15:53. A few weeks later I ran a Half Marathon PR but also got struck by a bout of plantar fasciitis and had to pull the plug on Richmond!
Last year I was unable to race. My stress fracture was just healing up so I jogged around the course before the race but was happy to watch everyone else do the race itself.
So here we are a year on and I’m ready to tackle Greekfest for a 5th time. I think I’m fit, I think I’m ready, just need to execute correctly. Even the weather seems to be taking a turn for the better.
A group of us are doing a course preview from the Dowd Y tomorrow at 6am if anyone wants to come along…
Sunday, August 22, 2010
More hay in the barn
Another week, another solid week of training. 70 miles on 7 runs including long run of 16 today and 2 good workouts. Friday I headed to PDS to do 8 400s with 200m walk recovery. Having done 16 the previous week with half the rest, this was supposed to be a fairly light workout in comparison focussing on developing cadence and getting some speed in the legs. All 8 were sub 70 and I closed with a 64.9. It was pleasing to be able to hit the target times fairly comfortably. It was also nice to be sharing the track with Billy, B Mac, Spada and Jordan. At 6am the more company the better!
Next week is another down week with hopefully a good performance at Greek Fest at the end of it. I have tomorrow off, a 2 mile, 2*1 mile, 4*400 workout on Tuesday and easy running the rest of the week. If the weather complies I'm feeling in pretty good shape for a sub 16 attempt on Saturday. After that the focus on Richmond will be intensified, as I head into the more marathon specific section of my training.
If I can hold everything together leading into Richmond I'm pretty excited I can run well there. After all, this time last year I was still out with a stress fracture and came back to post a good effort at Thunder Road. In fact, looking back at my training log for last year, I was over 1,000 miles below my current year's total at the same time last year. My barn certainly has a lot more hay in it this year.....
Next week is another down week with hopefully a good performance at Greek Fest at the end of it. I have tomorrow off, a 2 mile, 2*1 mile, 4*400 workout on Tuesday and easy running the rest of the week. If the weather complies I'm feeling in pretty good shape for a sub 16 attempt on Saturday. After that the focus on Richmond will be intensified, as I head into the more marathon specific section of my training.
If I can hold everything together leading into Richmond I'm pretty excited I can run well there. After all, this time last year I was still out with a stress fracture and came back to post a good effort at Thunder Road. In fact, looking back at my training log for last year, I was over 1,000 miles below my current year's total at the same time last year. My barn certainly has a lot more hay in it this year.....
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Monsoon run
Today’s run was interesting. The initial plan had been for me to meet up with the usual Dowd crew and lead them over towards Caitlin’s where we would meet her, Aaron and Jay and proceed to do a preview run of the OrthoCarolina 10k course that Jay and Caitlin will be racing at the weekend. However, when I turned the tv on this morning it was clear that running conditions were going to be interesting! Although my neighborhood was perfectly dry, apparently there was a big storm passing over to the north and downtown Charlotte. Sure enough as I drove towards the city there was some pretty spectacular lightning (in the direction I was driving towards!) and by the time I got to the Dowd the rain was unbelievable. Brian was the only other Thursday regular brave (mad?) enough to turn up so regardless of the rain and lightning (both incessant at this point) we headed towards Caitlin’s as planned. Within steps we were ploughing through ankle deep water and I was regretting my decision to wear my new shoes! As we ran along McDowell the combination of ankle deep water, heavy rain, pitch darkness intermittently lit up by flashes of lightning and the cacophony of emergency vehicle sirens made for quite a surreal (and scary) running experience! No sign of anyone else (Jay and Aaron had decided to head indoors to the Dreadmill, Caitlin to sleep out the storm and run later- apparently we ended up missing her by about a minute!) so we decided to carry on and run the normal Dowd loop backwards. Within a couple of miles the rain and storm had eased and it was actually a very pleasant run- the rain a welcome, refreshing change. Just over 9 miles in total, 400s tomorrow, rain or shine…..
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Keeping hold of the Booty Loop
In recent posts, Caitlin and Meagan have both made reference to owning the Booty Loop. I did my best this morning to keep it in runners' hands as I repeated my AT Tempo workout of three weeks ago and managed to run it 26 seconds faster in 46:11 (5:45 pace). The effort was hard and honest with the smothering humidity and running solo so all in all another good workout in the books.
You may have noticed I didn't update Monday and Tuesday. My blog was becoming so dull I was even bored myself writing it so no saying how my readers were finding it. (For the record Monday was a nice ten miler with Mr CRC, Aaron Linz, and Tuesday was 9.25 with the Miners).So I'm back to sporadic postings now when I actually have something interesting to contribute.
Couple of things today. One, Lisa went ahead and booked our family vacation down to Disney World in February. She got a great deal staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort with all our park passes and as much food as we can eat. So we are very excited about that.
Also exciting is the upcoming Blue Ridge Relay which I have not previously mentioned in these pages but is now coming up rapidly on the horizon. Our captain, Mr Ben Hovis, has finalized his crack squad and rumors are we are pursuing an attempt on the Mixed Course Record...With Danielle Crockford, Alice Rogers, Jocelyn Sikora, Boriana Bakaltcheva, Michelle Hazelton and Sarah Brooke Jones toeing the line for the ladies and Ben, John Compton, Jay Holder, Mike Beigay, Brian McMahon and I for the guys, who could doubt our intentions....
You may have noticed I didn't update Monday and Tuesday. My blog was becoming so dull I was even bored myself writing it so no saying how my readers were finding it. (For the record Monday was a nice ten miler with Mr CRC, Aaron Linz, and Tuesday was 9.25 with the Miners).So I'm back to sporadic postings now when I actually have something interesting to contribute.
Couple of things today. One, Lisa went ahead and booked our family vacation down to Disney World in February. She got a great deal staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort with all our park passes and as much food as we can eat. So we are very excited about that.
Also exciting is the upcoming Blue Ridge Relay which I have not previously mentioned in these pages but is now coming up rapidly on the horizon. Our captain, Mr Ben Hovis, has finalized his crack squad and rumors are we are pursuing an attempt on the Mixed Course Record...With Danielle Crockford, Alice Rogers, Jocelyn Sikora, Boriana Bakaltcheva, Michelle Hazelton and Sarah Brooke Jones toeing the line for the ladies and Ben, John Compton, Jay Holder, Mike Beigay, Brian McMahon and I for the guys, who could doubt our intentions....
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Week in review
70 miles(goal 70), 7 runs including 18 mile 'long', a tough 3*2.34m AT workout, a great 16*400m workout and one day completely off
70 miles, an 8m AT Tempo, an 8*400 workout and a 16 mile long run on the agenda next week.
70 miles, an 8m AT Tempo, an 8*400 workout and a 16 mile long run on the agenda next week.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Long run struggle
Didn't particularly enjoy this morning's long run! Although the temps had dropped as forecast, the dew point remained very high so as I met up with Spada and Brian less than half a mile into my run I was already sweating profusely! We ran around for half an hour before picking up Meagan and ten minutes later Jason and Justin. Luckily I had such good company for this run as on my own this would have been a chore! The humidity was particularly oppressive today and for some reason my stomach was acting up the whole time. Having said that I got the planned 18 miler done (first 9 in 71 minutes, second 9 in 62 minutes- just to get it over quicker) and it was the end of my running for the week so I could look forward to a Sunday lie in.
In other news this week some travel plans are now on the horizon. Yes the Mainwarings are heading up to Cleveland for Labor Day weekend to visit the Budics! A great opportunity to see TJ, Hannah and of course, Coach and obviously the weekend is going to incorporate a race. I'm planning to toe the line with Tim in his Alma Mater's first xc meet of the season! We're sure to ahve a great time as we've really missed Tim, Hannah and TJ since they moved back to Cleveland from Charlotte a couple of years ago.
In other news this week some travel plans are now on the horizon. Yes the Mainwarings are heading up to Cleveland for Labor Day weekend to visit the Budics! A great opportunity to see TJ, Hannah and of course, Coach and obviously the weekend is going to incorporate a race. I'm planning to toe the line with Tim in his Alma Mater's first xc meet of the season! We're sure to ahve a great time as we've really missed Tim, Hannah and TJ since they moved back to Cleveland from Charlotte a couple of years ago.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Friday 400m fun
This morning I hit up PDS with Jay, Brian and Spada- always great to work out with others! The weather seemed to have improved slightly from yesterday although we were still all drenched before we even started- it is amazing though how even a couple of degrees drop in temps and humidity seems to make such a difference, Fall is going to feel like heaven!
My legs were feeling good before the workout and I had a sense it was going to be a good one. Coach had prescribed 16 400s with 100m walk recovery at 10k pace. I’d figured I was in about 33 minute shape which called for 79-80 400s. Well, we hit the first one in that time but after that it got a bit out of hand! Still, I felt under control almost the whole time and the pace felt ‘right’ as we were knocking off the loops. We did the second half 'backwards' around the track just for a change of scenery and leaning! I was very pleased I could finish strong with a 66. The 100m recovery walks generally took just under a minute.
80,77,76,76,77,76,76,74,75,73,73,71,72,72,70,66
18 tomorrow to close the week out. I am not running Sunday as Lisa is off to her High School Reunion in Virginia so it's just me and the kids this weekend!
If any of my readers are around and not heading to Fisher Farms I am meeting Spada and Brian at 6 at Old Bell and then circling back at 6.30 to pick up any other arrivals........
My legs were feeling good before the workout and I had a sense it was going to be a good one. Coach had prescribed 16 400s with 100m walk recovery at 10k pace. I’d figured I was in about 33 minute shape which called for 79-80 400s. Well, we hit the first one in that time but after that it got a bit out of hand! Still, I felt under control almost the whole time and the pace felt ‘right’ as we were knocking off the loops. We did the second half 'backwards' around the track just for a change of scenery and leaning! I was very pleased I could finish strong with a 66. The 100m recovery walks generally took just under a minute.
80,77,76,76,77,76,76,74,75,73,73,71,72,72,70,66
18 tomorrow to close the week out. I am not running Sunday as Lisa is off to her High School Reunion in Virginia so it's just me and the kids this weekend!
If any of my readers are around and not heading to Fisher Farms I am meeting Spada and Brian at 6 at Old Bell and then circling back at 6.30 to pick up any other arrivals........
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Misery loves company
Never a truer phrase than that this morning! Upon turning the tv on at 5am it was 81 degrees already! I laced up and headed out into the dark, damp and hot air, jumped in the car gratefully and headed to the Dowd for the usual Thursday run. I met up with Jay a little early so that we could get an extra couple of miles in before joining the main group at 6. And what a group it was! Caitlin, Billy, Lat and Mike were going to be doing a workout so we ran with them for a couple of miles, then we split off and the remaining 9 or 10 people continued trudging up Queens Road West glad that we weren’t going to be doing 3*2 miles! 9 miles, 2 water stops and countless good conversations later and we were back at the Dowd our work done for the day. 16*400 tomorrow am!!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Solo Mcalpine effort
This morning I decided to stay on the soft stuff and headed into the darkness of Mcalpine with just my ipod and my headlamp for company. It was an uneventful run apart from a tumble I took at the turnaround at W Harris, no damage done.
Hot recovery run
After work I headed to the RFYL store to pick up some new kicks and meet Jay for some recovery acres. The run was okay considering it was 90+ degrees and humid as hell. We paused briefly during our run to perform some barefoot drills and strides in Freedom Park, I'm sure we made quite a sight to the unsuspecting park visitors!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Tempo repeats
Today I headed up to Lansdowne to do a workout on the loop I had scoped out yesterday. The workout was actually Jay and Aaron's as precribed by their coach, 3*13 minutes with 3 minute recovery, so I had scoped a loop out that measured 2.34 miles (about 5:33 pace for 13 minutes). The workout went well...
Spada, Brian and Jay joined me for this one. The first mile was straight along Lansdowne towards Providence which is a nice slightly downhill start and makes for a tough return for the second half of the loop. During mile 2 there were two fairly significant rises on Lansdowne and then a nice little downhill finish back to the start
13:02 (5:33,5:36,1:53) (5:34 pace)
12:45 (5:20,5:32,1:53) (5:27 pace)
12:45 (5:16,5:41,1:48) (5:27 pace)
As you can see we were fairly cautious on the first loop and I was definitely straining on mile 2 of the 3rd loop and slowed pretty significantly there but managed to kick in a pretty decent finish. We all had solid workouts today in pretty grim weather conditions!
Jay and I are meeting up later to get a double in. Not content with training, warming up and down and racing alongside each other we have decided to double together too.
Spada, Brian and Jay joined me for this one. The first mile was straight along Lansdowne towards Providence which is a nice slightly downhill start and makes for a tough return for the second half of the loop. During mile 2 there were two fairly significant rises on Lansdowne and then a nice little downhill finish back to the start
13:02 (5:33,5:36,1:53) (5:34 pace)
12:45 (5:20,5:32,1:53) (5:27 pace)
12:45 (5:16,5:41,1:48) (5:27 pace)
As you can see we were fairly cautious on the first loop and I was definitely straining on mile 2 of the 3rd loop and slowed pretty significantly there but managed to kick in a pretty decent finish. We all had solid workouts today in pretty grim weather conditions!
Jay and I are meeting up later to get a double in. Not content with training, warming up and down and racing alongside each other we have decided to double together too.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Workout scoping
Today was just a recovery day. I ran 6 miles on my own on the roads scoping out a suitable loop for tomorrow's workout with Jay, Spada and Brian
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Week in review
56 miles(goal 56), 6 runs including 16 mile 'long', a tough 8m AT workout and a good 5k race
70 miles, an LT Tempo, a 16*400 workout and a 18 mile long run on the agenda next week.
70 miles, an LT Tempo, a 16*400 workout and a 18 mile long run on the agenda next week.
Long recovery run
I was happy to get my long run in safely this morning for two reasons. Firstly, after the 4 mile race I was so beaten up I had to delay the long run till the Monday. Yesterday's race effort seemingly not so damaging as the previous race. Second, I had been concerned the night before as I went to bed that I may not be able to run on Sunday. Standing up for two hours in the same place at the Charlotte Criterium (bike race- I now have even more of a respect for the fitness and speed of pro cyclists!!) and then an hour in the same place at a bar for Lauren's birthday, my left calf had started cramping badly and by the end of evening I was walking with a noticeable limp.
Note that I mentioned the word ‘bar’ in my previous sentence. Yes I was given a pass out for Saturday night and was determined to have a few beers and enjoy it. The unfortunate down side of going out for a few beers in Charlotte is that it is a logistical exercise to arrange getting in and out of town. Coming over from England where you can drink freely and rely on public transportation to navigate around afterwards, this has been one of the harder transitions I have had to face since the move. I will not drink and drive and I’m not paying 30 bucks for a cab home. This time I was able to get Lisa to drop me into town and I got the last bus home. The bus however only comes within 2 miles of my house. So I still have a 30 minute walk once I get off! On Saturday night this was a limp home and by the time I hit the sack eventually at 1am the calf was definitely a concern.
Three hours and 20 minutes later off went the bloody alarm and I forced myself out of bed, the prospect of 16 miles hardly enticing. Fortunately the calf seemed okay and I was meeting Spada after 5 miles so I got out there and got it done. Spada and I picked up Beigay and then we ran for 45 minutes or so before the main CRC group met up and I finished my run up with them. It took me over 2 hours to cover those 16 miles but I was just happy to have got this done so i could enjoy the rest of the day with the girls. A friend had a surprise birthday lunch at Maggiano's so I was able to eat my bodyweight in bread, pasta, meat, salad, apple crostada and ice cream before heading to the pool with the kids.
Note that I mentioned the word ‘bar’ in my previous sentence. Yes I was given a pass out for Saturday night and was determined to have a few beers and enjoy it. The unfortunate down side of going out for a few beers in Charlotte is that it is a logistical exercise to arrange getting in and out of town. Coming over from England where you can drink freely and rely on public transportation to navigate around afterwards, this has been one of the harder transitions I have had to face since the move. I will not drink and drive and I’m not paying 30 bucks for a cab home. This time I was able to get Lisa to drop me into town and I got the last bus home. The bus however only comes within 2 miles of my house. So I still have a 30 minute walk once I get off! On Saturday night this was a limp home and by the time I hit the sack eventually at 1am the calf was definitely a concern.
Three hours and 20 minutes later off went the bloody alarm and I forced myself out of bed, the prospect of 16 miles hardly enticing. Fortunately the calf seemed okay and I was meeting Spada after 5 miles so I got out there and got it done. Spada and I picked up Beigay and then we ran for 45 minutes or so before the main CRC group met up and I finished my run up with them. It took me over 2 hours to cover those 16 miles but I was just happy to have got this done so i could enjoy the rest of the day with the girls. A friend had a surprise birthday lunch at Maggiano's so I was able to eat my bodyweight in bread, pasta, meat, salad, apple crostada and ice cream before heading to the pool with the kids.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Blue Points 5k
The day dawned with a welcome drop in temps and humidity. Warmed up with Jay, Billy, Meagan, Spada, Brian, Ben and could tell that even though the course was a tough one, the weather had definitely cooperated and everyone was in a positive mood as the race started. This mood turned into one of hilarity and "WTF?" just as we were about to start as it appeared that Vicente Hernandez had forgotten to put his shorts on and had to scamper off the start line to sort himself out. Still no idea what was going on there!
Anyway, before we had lined up you could tell the field was stacked. This 'high profile' race often has College kids just starting to ramp their training up turning up and toeing the line and there were 4 or 5 fast looking guys who I had no clue who they were. Jordan and Falcone charged off down Stonewall followed by the bunch of said college kids. Jay, Brian and I went through in the third pack and hit the mile (all downhill) in 5:01. We dropped Brian as we turned on to Morehead and started climbing. I kept putting in little surges on the hills but Jay was having none of it and I couldn't shake him. Mile 2 5:16 and still climbing. Eventually we crested the bridge after the Dowd and Jay put a small gap on me as we headed down towards the stadium. Under the bridge (mile 3 5:20) and Jay had a 5 meter gap. As the crowd cheered us in I was able to pick it up and pass Jay and hold on for 7th overall (16:13). Good race, fastest time on this course, looking forward to Greek Fest now although no Jay there- I have tried to convince his gf to come back early from their jaunt to the Bahamas but to no avail!
Most people seemed happy with their races. Billy had gone sub 17 for the first time so we were pumped for him, Meagan and Jordan won their races easily as per usual (I'm challenging them to do the double at Greek Fest in sub 15 and sub 17) and most everyone else had performed better than they had expected, myself included. This was easily a course pr for me and two of the three previous times I have run this I have followed up at Greek Fest 30 seconds faster. This time I ran 16:13. My all time road 5k pr is 15:45. You do the math.....
Anyway, before we had lined up you could tell the field was stacked. This 'high profile' race often has College kids just starting to ramp their training up turning up and toeing the line and there were 4 or 5 fast looking guys who I had no clue who they were. Jordan and Falcone charged off down Stonewall followed by the bunch of said college kids. Jay, Brian and I went through in the third pack and hit the mile (all downhill) in 5:01. We dropped Brian as we turned on to Morehead and started climbing. I kept putting in little surges on the hills but Jay was having none of it and I couldn't shake him. Mile 2 5:16 and still climbing. Eventually we crested the bridge after the Dowd and Jay put a small gap on me as we headed down towards the stadium. Under the bridge (mile 3 5:20) and Jay had a 5 meter gap. As the crowd cheered us in I was able to pick it up and pass Jay and hold on for 7th overall (16:13). Good race, fastest time on this course, looking forward to Greek Fest now although no Jay there- I have tried to convince his gf to come back early from their jaunt to the Bahamas but to no avail!
Most people seemed happy with their races. Billy had gone sub 17 for the first time so we were pumped for him, Meagan and Jordan won their races easily as per usual (I'm challenging them to do the double at Greek Fest in sub 15 and sub 17) and most everyone else had performed better than they had expected, myself included. This was easily a course pr for me and two of the three previous times I have run this I have followed up at Greek Fest 30 seconds faster. This time I ran 16:13. My all time road 5k pr is 15:45. You do the math.....
Friday, August 6, 2010
Pre race shakeout
Legs felt strangely flat today. Ran around a bit and went to CC and did some light barefoot strides and drills on the astroturf. Hopefully will have a bit more pep in the old legs tomorrow for the race
Glad I've been logging all my workouts on R2W as well as Athleticore- Athleticore has had a meltdown.....
Glad I've been logging all my workouts on R2W as well as Athleticore- Athleticore has had a meltdown.....
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The course preview that wasn't
This morning was a Dowd run with a difference. Met up with Aaron, Brian, Billy, Jay, Chris, Lat and Jason for a boys only jaunt. We ran the Blue Points course we will be racing on Saturday twice only to find out later that we had run it the wrong way. That will teach me to look at a course map before a race…
It did however serve the purpose of reminding us what a tough race Saturday will be and with the bulk of the third mile uphill this one should sort the men from the boys. Hoping to put in another strong performance after my last race and this should also be a decent indicator of my current fitness levels, although I'm definitely more concerned with racing well rather than having any time goals. I have run this race three times before, twice running 16:23 and once 16:30 so pretty consistent. It should also prove a useful guide to what I may be able to run at the much faster Greek Fest in three weeks- two of those three years I was able to knock more than 30 seconds off my Blue Points time at Greek Fest....
All in all a decent run, serving its training purpose. I finished off with some strides in the Y parking lot.
Half day at work tomorrow, hoping to be able to take the kids to the pool all afternoon if the storms stay away...
It did however serve the purpose of reminding us what a tough race Saturday will be and with the bulk of the third mile uphill this one should sort the men from the boys. Hoping to put in another strong performance after my last race and this should also be a decent indicator of my current fitness levels, although I'm definitely more concerned with racing well rather than having any time goals. I have run this race three times before, twice running 16:23 and once 16:30 so pretty consistent. It should also prove a useful guide to what I may be able to run at the much faster Greek Fest in three weeks- two of those three years I was able to knock more than 30 seconds off my Blue Points time at Greek Fest....
All in all a decent run, serving its training purpose. I finished off with some strides in the Y parking lot.
Half day at work tomorrow, hoping to be able to take the kids to the pool all afternoon if the storms stay away...
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Group running
What I love with the Charlotte running scene now is that almost any morning you can guarantee some company on your runs! A couple of years ago after Tim had left the area I was pretty much running solo at least 5 times a week. Now an 'ipod' run is rare (and all the more appreciated when it does happen as a result).
This morning was no different. Meagan was doing a workout at Mcalpine so put the call out for some company. Even though I was just easy running today I was more than happy to meet up. Jordan put in an appearance, as did Aaron and after we dropped off Meagan and Pezz who we met en route, Aaron, Jordan and I ran around for some nice easy miles. I was going to head to CC school and do some striders on their artificial field but ended up just doing my whole run with those two and settling for some strides outside my house. Great company, enjoyable run.
This morning was no different. Meagan was doing a workout at Mcalpine so put the call out for some company. Even though I was just easy running today I was more than happy to meet up. Jordan put in an appearance, as did Aaron and after we dropped off Meagan and Pezz who we met en route, Aaron, Jordan and I ran around for some nice easy miles. I was going to head to CC school and do some striders on their artificial field but ended up just doing my whole run with those two and settling for some strides outside my house. Great company, enjoyable run.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Even Tougher Tempo
Phew, this was a tough one. Figure that even though I had yesterday completely off I’m still pretty tired from last week. Taking it VERY easy until Saturday now….
Great turnout! Met Chris, Aaron, Jay and Spada (AND STAN!) at Old Bell, ran up Sardis and met Megan, Mike, Bill and Brian on their way down, headed back to Old Bell, picked up Ben and jogged to the start of the xc course (nice 4.5 mile warm up!)
Brian, Chris, Jay, Aaron, Spada and I did the workout. We ran the 5k course twice and on the second time through carried on back to Old Bell for 8.2 miles total. We were all pretty much together through 2 miles, then Jay and Chris started to pick it up a little so I went with them. As we started the second loop Chris started to put the hammer down a little. I knew he was looking to run 5:40s so I backed off a bit as that was too fast for my workout. Jay went with him and they got a pretty decent gap on me. The hill the second time round pretty much zapped me as I crossed that aerobic threshold and was panting pretty hard coming down the back of that. The remaining 3 or 4 miles was just a question of trying to maintain form as much as possible and close the workout out without going to the well. Chris had gapped Jay by this point and I was gaining a little on Jay for the last couple of miles but he still finished comfortably ahead of me. Chris carried on to do 50 minutes but Jay and I were done!
6:03
6:15 (hill)
5:56
5:53
5:59 (hill)
5:58
5:51
5:49
0:52 (0.2)
Yesterday was a nice fat zero in the books. The rest of the week will be nice and easy with some strides and drills thrown in- legs are going to need to be nice and refreshed for Saturday's race...
Great turnout! Met Chris, Aaron, Jay and Spada (AND STAN!) at Old Bell, ran up Sardis and met Megan, Mike, Bill and Brian on their way down, headed back to Old Bell, picked up Ben and jogged to the start of the xc course (nice 4.5 mile warm up!)
Brian, Chris, Jay, Aaron, Spada and I did the workout. We ran the 5k course twice and on the second time through carried on back to Old Bell for 8.2 miles total. We were all pretty much together through 2 miles, then Jay and Chris started to pick it up a little so I went with them. As we started the second loop Chris started to put the hammer down a little. I knew he was looking to run 5:40s so I backed off a bit as that was too fast for my workout. Jay went with him and they got a pretty decent gap on me. The hill the second time round pretty much zapped me as I crossed that aerobic threshold and was panting pretty hard coming down the back of that. The remaining 3 or 4 miles was just a question of trying to maintain form as much as possible and close the workout out without going to the well. Chris had gapped Jay by this point and I was gaining a little on Jay for the last couple of miles but he still finished comfortably ahead of me. Chris carried on to do 50 minutes but Jay and I were done!
6:03
6:15 (hill)
5:56
5:53
5:59 (hill)
5:58
5:51
5:49
0:52 (0.2)
Yesterday was a nice fat zero in the books. The rest of the week will be nice and easy with some strides and drills thrown in- legs are going to need to be nice and refreshed for Saturday's race...
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Week in review
82 miles(goal 80), 7 runs including two 'long', a successful 8m AT workout and a tough 5m LT workout
50 miles, an AT Tempo, a brutal 5k race and a 16 mile long run on the agenda next week.
50 miles, an AT Tempo, a brutal 5k race and a 16 mile long run on the agenda next week.
Tough Tempo
Today was one of those runs you just suck it up, get it done and move on. Day broke with a great change in temps, it was almost Fall-like with a cool drizzle in the air, but even this couldn't disguise the fact that my legs felt tired this morning, very tired. Given that the previous 8 days had included an excruciating race, two long runs and an 8 mile AT effort, all in dreadful humidity, this was hardly surprising.
So I headed out somewhat reluctantly to Charlotte Christian track for today's prescribed workout which was a 5 mile Lactate Threshold Tempo.coach had advised that this workout was best done either on a track or least a flat measurable surface where your pace and effort could be monitored closely and with the rain likely to have impacted on my first choice of venue Mcalpine I decided to head to the track.
A jog there and a few strides and I decided I might as well get on with it as my legs weren't suddenly going to freshen up! I even kept my ipod on as a distraction. The first mile passed in 5:38 and from then on I only checked my watch at the end of each mile rather than each lap. 2,3 and 4 in 5:40, 5:36,5:34 and pushing hard on the last one I came down to 5:17, a workout that looked like it may go down the pan after 2 miles being somewhat salvaged by a strong finish.
Hopefully my much needed 'down week' next week will freshen me up again, very happy to have hit over 80 miles for the first time this week.
As i was fighting to get through this workout I kept thinking of Mo Farah's efforts yesterday, trying to use it for inspiration. For those of you who haven't seen it I am attaching the link to the last 400m of the Euro Champs 5k yesterday. Bear in mind that the previous two laps had been completed in 61 and 59
A fantastic effort, history making for a UK runner and all on the back of a brilliant 10k victory earlier in the week. Nice one Mo and a really solid Euro Champs for my compatriots as we start gearing up for London 2012!
5k
So I headed out somewhat reluctantly to Charlotte Christian track for today's prescribed workout which was a 5 mile Lactate Threshold Tempo.coach had advised that this workout was best done either on a track or least a flat measurable surface where your pace and effort could be monitored closely and with the rain likely to have impacted on my first choice of venue Mcalpine I decided to head to the track.
A jog there and a few strides and I decided I might as well get on with it as my legs weren't suddenly going to freshen up! I even kept my ipod on as a distraction. The first mile passed in 5:38 and from then on I only checked my watch at the end of each mile rather than each lap. 2,3 and 4 in 5:40, 5:36,5:34 and pushing hard on the last one I came down to 5:17, a workout that looked like it may go down the pan after 2 miles being somewhat salvaged by a strong finish.
Hopefully my much needed 'down week' next week will freshen me up again, very happy to have hit over 80 miles for the first time this week.
As i was fighting to get through this workout I kept thinking of Mo Farah's efforts yesterday, trying to use it for inspiration. For those of you who haven't seen it I am attaching the link to the last 400m of the Euro Champs 5k yesterday. Bear in mind that the previous two laps had been completed in 61 and 59
A fantastic effort, history making for a UK runner and all on the back of a brilliant 10k victory earlier in the week. Nice one Mo and a really solid Euro Champs for my compatriots as we start gearing up for London 2012!
5k
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